• Claudia Regina Furquim de Andrade, Luciana Maluf Cervone, and Fernanda Chiarion Sassi.
• Fluency and Fluency Disorders Investigation Laboratory, Department of Physiotherapy, Speech-Language and Hearing Pathology and Occupational Therapy, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. clauan@usp.br
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2003 Mar 5; 121 (2): 818481-4.

ContextThe speech rate is one of the parameters considered when investigating speech fluency and is an important variable in the assessment of individuals with communication complaints.ObjectiveTo correlate the stuttering severity index with one of the indices used for assessing fluency/speech rate.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingFluency and Fluency Disorders Investigation Laboratory, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo.ParticipantsSeventy adults with stuttering diagnosis.Main MeasurementsA speech sample from each participant containing at least 200 fluent syllables was videotaped and analyzed according to a stuttering severity index test and speech rate parameters.ResultsThe results obtained in this study indicate that the stuttering severity and the speech rate present significant variation, i.e., the more severe the stuttering is, the lower the speech rate in words and syllables per minute.Discussion And ConclusionThe results suggest that speech rate is an important indicator of fluency levels and should be incorporated in the assessment and treatment of stuttering. This study represents a first attempt to identify the possible subtypes of developmental stuttering.DefinitionObjective tests that quantify diseases are important in their diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

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